Conductor

Between 2002 and 2010, Magnus Martensson was Music Director of The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York, and from 1997 to 2006 Conductor of the Slee Sinfonietta and Visiting Professor at SUNY Buffalo.

In past seasons, Martensson has guest conducted with the New York New Music Ensemble, the Trondheim Soloists, Musica Vitae, ICE, and at the Monday Evening Concert Series (Los Angeles), The Manhattan School of Music, and Teatro San Martin (Buenos Aires) and worked with soloists Elmar Oliveira, the Weilerstein Trio, Ursula Oppens, Anton Kontra, Tony Arnold, and Marilyn Nonken.

In 1989, Martensson made his operatic debut in Malmö, Sweden, conducting Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and has subsequently conducted operas by Mozart, Puccini, Golove, among others. He has conducted several world premiere recordings, including orchestral music by Jeffrey Stadelman, Roger Reynolds, and David Felder.

As a composer, Martensson has been featured at festivals including the June in Buffalo and the Mid-American Contemporary Arts Festivals. His one act opera Before the Law, based on Kafka’s work, was premiered in Buffalo in 1997. Among his other works are Sonata for Two Violins, Two Poems of E.E.Cummings, OGNAT Quartet, and Kvasir for Strings, performed most recently at Carnegie Hall in New York. Martensson has recorded for Mode, Centaur and Mindfeel.

DAVID FELDERSix Poems from Neruda’s, Alturas …
June in Buffalo Festival Orchestra
Magnus Martensson, conductor
World premiere recording of works for orchestra by David Felder. (1998, Mode Records)
For more info: http://www.moderecords.com/catalog/089felder.html

“… a conductor who possesses both the technique and intelligence to produce high quality performances.”
The Buffalo News

“A good gauge of what Magnus Martensson has achieved was apparent in the clarity with which the strings projected the complex but gossamer textures and the plaintive ambience of Elliot Carter’s Elegy for String Orchestra …the performance had coherence and a remarkable sense of assurance.”
The Buffalo News

“Vibrant”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Performances are astonishing” [D. Felder – Six Poems ..]
American Record Guide

“Constellations by Per Nörgård ended the program….Magnus Martensson led his fine instrumentalists [The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra] in a clear, clean reading”
Norway Times